Hi-Fi and the Folly of Perfection

@grauerbar  Good post!

I'll admit to similar feelings at certain points in building systems over now nearly thirty years. There were times when the cost in form of funds and audiophile angst seemed excessive for the value of sound quality I was experiencing. In those bad old days, excessive analytical listening mode, having to work too hard to get to music listening mode. Problem was I was looking for perfection with systems  that had far too many defects.

While there were times when I felt like giving up, I persevered, managing to put together subsequent systems that provided far more of the sound qualities I desire. Keeping an audio journal since late 1990's has proven invaluable in that it allowed  an orderly progression in marginal gains towards the system I have today. Without the journal and it's attention to minutiae I'd have likely gone in circles doing the equipment churn thing.

And so now onto more recent times,  I've not had these ruminations for some years now. There was a point where I surpassed a certain plateau in system sound quality that allowed an easy transition from analytical mode to music enjoyment mode with virtually no effort. I still listen in analytical mode for short periods and continue to evolve my system, but I now consistently enter music enjoyment mode easily, even though I may have added new equipment or tweaks.

In my estimation, its reaching this certain plateau that's the difficult part of being an audiophile, once past this easy sailing.

I'd also posit, perhaps digital only systems or concentrating on digital only in systems with both vinyl and digital setups makes the journey more difficult. For me, resolution, transparency rather easy to achieve with digital, getting digital to sound like best quality analog/vinyl was the difficult part.

I'll only say I've finally made it to entirely happy audiophile stage, all the work and angst has paid off!  I realize there's no perfection possible, but my contentment level means this pursuit not all folly.

I have always been drawn by the relentless improvement I have heard at each new component. Well after a few missteps very early on when I young and poor. My journey has been that of being drawn to my system from it’s more and more seductive sound. This has been punctuated by plateaus when all was optimized at a new level and was inclined not to change a thing for five to ten years.

By far the most rewarding has been the last ten years as I have had season tickets to the symphony and my upgrades have been towards a much more natural sound and have been the largest I have ever made. Has really brought together all I have learned in the last fifty years in pursuit of the absolute sound (for me).

'Lugubrious ruminations' - I like that! 

No, when it comes to sound, I am not at all nostalgic for how sound was when I was younger. I like it better today in every way! I've got separate systems for 2-channel and for headphones, and am very happy with it. 

I get what the OP is describing. My first playback system wasn’t really even a proper hi-fi. It was a suitcase stereo with an RCA jack for a detachable speaker (that latched onto the case). Figure this was early ’60s. I jacked the thing into a musical instrument amp and a PA column and cranked it. I was in bliss! I’m sure in reality it was terrible, but it gave me great joy.

And now, more than 50 years later, after obsessing, tweaking, hauling equipment in and out, various set ups over the years, maybe I’m just trying to recapture the excitement of those early days. It almost has nothing to do with SQ and more to do with the enthusiasm I had as a kid being able to blast "my" music-- early hard rock at the time.

Do you still get excited? Frankly, I go through phases of ambivalence. I’m still interested in the recordings, the history, the players, but there are times when I’m not using the system. And that’s sad, given what it is meant for.

I’ve been kicking around the idea of going back to school for archival practices and library or information science. I have access to a very good university here (UT Austin) where I already teach part-time and if they had the facilities for me to put together a program-- between their archive (Ransom Center) and Information Sciences program, I might do it. I need to keep my head in the game even if I’m not listening as much as I’d like for enjoyment. Maybe it is just a phase- I’ve been through this ennui before. Buying new gear doesn’t do it for me-- I’m pretty happy with what I have, though I may have one more big speaker system in me before they cart me off to the nursing home. Then, it’s Slim Whitman time!

I suspect that reading Pirzig's Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance would be perfect for you right now.

We have two sides to our personalities -- a classic/analytical and a romantic/sensual side. The question Pirsig raises is your question -- Why are these sides of us in tension and how to we make them complementary, again. Perhaps you'll like his attempts to answer it.